Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-10-01
A SAFE TRACK.
THE RISK OF RAILROAD MANAGE
MeNT Is THE MAN ELEMENT.
The Machine Il Comparatively Safe. but
the Employe Il Frequently Careless.
Ployes-Watch

I
the Employe Il Frequently Careless.
Some of the Rules of Railroad En-
| ploye--watchfuIn
1T Is matter Of grave surprise to me-
SAID railroad magnate of prominence, in
| conversation with a reporter, that after
every accident on steam railways the peo-
pie raise u clamor about that indefinite
and vague parsonage. the management,
instead of seeking out at once the individ-
ual employe of the company TO whose
carelessness most probably, the mishap is
attributable. With very few exceptions,
railroads, in their own interest rs well as
the public's. take every precaution for
the safety oi passengers. The machinery
of the road can be kept in such n way as
to guard against accident to a reasonable
certainty. Metal works are easily
managed; the great risk in the operation
Of the railroad Is the man element. The
nearer the man becomes an automaton, or
like a machine. the safer he is. The
average human being in subordinate or
lowly position is prone to do what he is
distinctly told not To do. and neglect to do
that which he is ordered To perform As
| said, man is the risky link, but without
him in the running of a railroad it would
be impossible to get along. If we could
only get a machine TO take mans place
along the line would undertake to per
sonaliy guarantee the safety Of trains and
their passengers.
The nearer railroad employe be-
comes n machine the greater safety he
will prove to the railroad and his patrons
The more devoid of vaulting ambition ha
becomes the better he will be. You take
Old conductors who have been in the ser
vice for years, who are perfectly satisfic!
with their situations and do not aspire =
be general manager of the road. III
make the best men for their places. TT "
do not think OF anything else. and that
makes them valuable as conductors
From the standpoint Of safety it's better
for a man not to think at all. but to
| blindly follow instructions. The road
will advise him is to his duties, place him
in n rut and oil his joints with n salary in
keeping with his place. When doing duty
for the railro.id he has no business think
| ing Of anything else. His time is the
company's. and il pays him for following
instructions.
"A good many people, - continued the
railway man, do not understand that
the entire organization Of a railway is
framed with particular reference to the
safety OF the company's property and the
Ives of its patrons and employees. Let
me show you our instructions. All told,
they fill quite n large book. Moreover.
employees are required to learn these regu-
lations. II is ~ much their duty to
familiarize themselves with them rs it is
10 be on hand ready to 60 TO work AZ the
hour appointed by their superiors Rail
road hands, as rule. arc not the most
highly educated men. l would scarcely
care to hire Harvard or Yale man for
switch service. or any job Of that kind.
In the first place, the college man would
spend too much time in thinking, instead
of attending TO business, The caliber of
our men is such, as rule, that il is not
only necessary 20 tell them what they
shall do but also what they shall not do.
I'VE start ont by instructing them to
take the safe side in cases of the least un
certainty. Take the case of trackmen.
| They are specially instructed by their SUI
pcriors TO set 70 fires on windy days: 10
| leave no fire until they are sure il is ex
| tinguished: they must examine Culverts.
| bridges, rails. make all needful temporary
repIirs, and instantly report anything be
yond their capabilities. For the safe OPP
Grafton Of trains the rules are 50 numer
ous that | can only mention few of
them. Here is one which most people
| will he surprised at. 1t reads:
Trains are 10 be run under the direc-
ton of the conductor. except when his di-
| rections conflict with train orders, the
rules. or involve any risk or hazard. in
which event it shall he the duty of any
employe to call the attention of the con
ductoy or engineer to the risk they take.
and themselves at once take such action
as will secure the safety of persons and
property committed to their charge: and
| if any employe shall neglect or refuse to
| call the attention of the conductor or en-
| gineer to the risk. OF neglect to take such
action Immediately as will secure the
safety Of persons and property, in either
of these cases all participators will be held
alike accountable
Every passenger train running at night
must display two good red lights on the
rear platform of the rear car in the train,
and it is the duty of the conductor and
| the rear brakeman to examine them fire.
quently to see that the lights burn clearly.
Every passenger train must have bell
cord attached 10 the signal bell on the en-
gine, and passing through the entire train
~ tht ilteuitI
running under special or telegraph orders.
must be run with great care. Engineers
must run with great caution around all
abrupt curves, sounding the whistle at
| least eighty rods before entering the curve,
| and continuing TO sound il at short inter
| walls until the curve is passed.
"All trains except iirs: class trains must
| approach all stations. water tanks and
hpt ,,r.l.r ,.,rpy,lata control
pectirg to find the preceding train on the
| main track, whether it maybe a stopping
| place for that train or not. In case of ac-
| cident or stoppage upon the main track
| from any cause, conductors must imme-
| tiiately protect their trains. Whenever
| fogs or storms prevent an engineer from
seeing clearly in advance, the signal used
| for obscure road crossings must be given
| at intervals Of one minute, until the train
| is clear of the fog or storm. The absence
| of light at night on any switch or signal
post where II light is ordinarily shown,
| must be taken as a signal of danger: and
engineers approaching such switch must
stop or run slowly until the proper posi-
ton of the switch is ascertained.
''Ip every first class railway Organiza-
ton there is most elaborate system Of
t>st inspection. Car wheels, axles,
brakes, rails, ties, bridges of all sorts.
li.mps, signals, locomotive gear of every
dsscription-in fact, the whole road and
| all of its appurtenances-are watched as n
hen watches her young chicks. The
great machine is kept almost perfect, eX
cept in the human parts. There the
great danger lies, and danger always will
be there as long rs railroads are operated
by men. The ideal railroad, SO far as
safety is concerned, will come when some
body invents railroad that can be run
without men '-Chicago Herald Inter.